Chapter Text
Teen knew Agatha was pining long before Agatha knew herself.
Normally, Teen would blame his immediate callout on the spectacular intuition he had formed over the years. But you didn’t need intuition to see the way Agatha blushed redder than the Scarlet Witch when Rio was around. Hell, you barely even needed a gaydar.
He didn’t bring it up to Agatha, not for a while. Not when she dodged his questions about the strange witch who had attacked her in her home. Not when she avoided answering who the final name on the coven list was.
But he couldn’t hold it in forever. And when Rio herself showed up, he really had to say something.
“So!” he chirped, walking the long winding path of the Witches Road. It had been a while, or perhaps no time at all. There wasn’t a sun in the sky to tell them how many days had passed, and Teen didn’t know the intricacies of the Road well enough to be able to guess. “Uhm, this is like, totally crazy, right?” No one said anything, so he continued. “It’s nice to finally, properly meet you. I’m-”
“That’s Teen,” Agatha interrupted, her voice heavy with disdain. “Ignore him.”
Teen gasped, a hand coming to his chest. “Do not ignore me, I'm the whole reason we’re even on the Road!”
“Are you?” The newest member of the group raised her eyebrow, looking Teen up and down. “That’s an ambitious statement, given the fact that all of you look like you’ve nearly drowned.” She held out a hand. “Nice to meet you, Teen. You can call me Rio.”
“You can call her a bitch,” Agatha muttered under her breath.
Teen looked over, spotting the redness in Agatha’s face, the way her fingers fidgeted at her side. He smirked. “You’re the witch who blew her door down the other day,” he said, and upon seeing her confused look, followed it up with, “I was in the closet.” Still nothing, no sign of recognition, and Teen pushed forward. “We broke the curse? Well, I did. But you were like, there!”
“Ohh,” Rio nodded. “Right, you.” She pushed past him, stalking toward Agatha. “Why’s his name Teen?” she asked, and Agatha rolled her eyes.
“Teen, tell her your name.”
Sighing, Teen spoke his name. He watched as Rio’s smile twisted into confusion.
She looked between him and Agatha. “He’s got a sigil.”
“No shit,” Agatha said, deadpan. “Can we get a move on? I’m tired of standing here chatting about nothing.”
“Of course, sweetheart,” Rio replied, stepping forward past Agatha. Their shoulders brushed, and Teen watched the way Agatha leaned into the seemingly accidental touch. “Let’s go.”
Rio started down the road, the rest of the coven following along after a brief moment of consideration. Teen began to walk, stopping when he reached Agatha after a few steps.
“So,” he said, slowly and carefully. “You and Rio?”
Agatha glared at him. Her face was tinted pink, even in the darkness. “Sworn enemies,” she replied. “Hate each other.”
Teen stared at her. “Right. Sworn enemies call each other sweetheart, got it,” he mumbled under his breath, unsure whether he hoped Agatha heard. If she did, she ignored him.
~
The coven walked for a while longer, and Teen found himself watching Agatha and Rio. For ‘sworn enemies,’ they interacted more like old friends. Lovers, even. The kind of lovers that looked like they’d pounce on each other at any moment.
“Hey,” Teen heard behind him, and he turned to see Alice stepping up at his side.
“Hey,” he replied, his footsteps falling in line with hers. “What’s up?”
Alice sighed. “You notice it too, don’t you?” she said, eyes wandering over toward Rio and Agatha. The two witches were shoulder to shoulder, Rio looking at Agatha while Agatha was glaring at her feet. “Them, their energy?”
“Yes!” Teen shouted, perhaps a little too loud. He shrunk into himself, lowering his voice. “Yes, thank you. I thought it was so obvious.”
“It is,” Alice replied, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth. “I think it’s obvious to everyone except Harkness.”
Teen kept watching the women. Rio’s hand brushed Agatha’s, knuckles touching briefly. It almost seemed like a spark flew from the contact, and Agatha pulled back.
“Do you think she knows she’s queer and is just ignoring her feelings? Or is this completely new to her?”
Alice laughed. “All witches are a little bit gay, so I'll assume she’s already come to that conclusion long ago.” She paused, grabbing Teen’s arm and pulling him in. “You know Agatha well, yeah?”
Nodding, Teen smiled. “I mean, I'd like to think I do? I’ve read up on her, like, a lot. I broke into her house and she hasn’t killed me yet,” he shuffled, the rocky ground rough under his bare feet.
“And in all that you know about her,” Alice began, her voice a hushed whisper, “do you think she’d put her vulnerabile feelings above her need for power?”
Teen’s smile faded as he thought about it. “She does have a bit of a power dynamic thing going for her, doesn’t she?” he joked, trying to shake the stare that Alice was giving him.
“Look, dude,” Alice started walking again, letting go of Teen’s arm. “Whatever teenage matchmaking ideas you’ve up there, get rid of them. Witches don’t like their lives being messed with. Especially not a witch like Agatha.” She sped up, leaving Teen at the back of the coven, alone with his thoughts.
His thoughts very quickly went back to meddling. He just had to be subtle. Show Agatha how she truly felt without tipping the shaky balance of the coven and sending her over the edge of some obscure frenzy caused by her own self-recognition. Easy.
He had nothing to worry about.
~
“What I don’t understand,” said Teen, stalking down the bouldery path of the road, “is why we haven’t gotten another trial yet.”
Agatha looked over at him. “You have no patience, Teen.” Her voice was deadpan.
“Maybe,” Alice suggested, walking in the middle of the scattered group. Her voice echoed across the dimly lit sky. “Maybe this is a trial.”
Raising an eyebrow, Teen gasped. “Or maybe the real trial is the friends we make along the way!” he gushed, subtly looking between Agatha and Rio. The two of them were farther apart now, Agatha closer to the front while Rio stalked behind her.
“What are you talking about?” Agatha asked, not bothering to look back at him. “Seriously, does anyone know what he’s talking about?”
A murmur of confusion drifted over all of them. Teen smiled. “You wouldn’t get it,” he said slowly, “you’re not up with the times.”
“Whatever,” said Agatha after a moment of silence. She had stalled, leaving Rio right by her side. “Come on, we haven’t got all day.”
Rio snorted, brushing her hair out of her face and lolling her head to the side to look at Agatha. There was a spark in her eyes, a deep ember that burned and called out toward the other witch. “Technically,” she said, smiling, “we have all the time in the world. There’s not really a due date on finding the end of the road.”
“Is there a due date on you shutting up?” Agatha was looking straight forward, but Rio continued to stare at the side of her face. “Maybe you can learn from Teen’s sigil!”
“Hey!” Teen yelled, his voice bouncing off of nothing and multiplying around them. “You could
shut her up in other ways,” he whispered, and again the words echoed, very clearly heard by Agatha and Rio. Both women blushed crimson.
“Teen,” Agatha threatened, and her voice was like a shockwave coming toward him, echoing thrice before the air fell still abruptly.
Everyone froze. “Do you think…” Teen started, and Agatha shook her head at him.
“Let’s not stick around long enough to find out.”